<p>Hello everyone, I recently got my financial aid packet and I'm not quite too happy with it. I was accepted for the 2010 summer term at UF and my EFC is 0. I was hoping to get most of the fall and spring term covered but unfortunately according to my packet I would need a 6.5 thousand dollar loan yearly. I will be calling on monday to see if I can work something out, perhaps getting work-study if its still available. If I were to put UF aside, my only choice would be to go to FIU and I'd prefer not. They, however, cover all costs. I guess my main question is, is getting roughly a 24 thousand dollar debt in the span of four years really worth it for a UF degree?</p>
<p>What are your goals? (major, grad school, etc)</p>
<p>…and you might not even need the $6000 in loans. They calculate financial aid on what the school determines the school year will cost. At the time I was there, it was ~$12,000-13,000. However, I only needed $10,000 in aid every year.</p>
<p>ASMAJ is right, their expected cost of attendance figures in some really weird stuff, including a pretty outrageous clothing and “computer” budget. If you live in a more spartan setup, you can probably attend for less.</p>
<p>And I should be graduating with 20k or so in debt, but I’m graduating from a program that should get me a good job, so in my opinion it’s worth it. If you plan to be a polysci major, it’s not worth it.</p>
<p>So would you guys say 15 grand is enough to attend UF? Spending your money wisely of course</p>
<p>Here’s what UF says it will cost per year…</p>
<p>Tuition - 4340
Books - 990
Room/Board - 7500
Personal - 3320 (includes $1040 for a laptop, which should be a one-time thing)
Travel (Home) - 540</p>
<p>This comes to a total of $16690.</p>
<p>A few things jump out immediately…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Laptop - if you already have one, the cost is $0. Regardless, it is not a “yearly” cost. It’s one time.</p></li>
<li><p>Travel - That $540 may be close to $0 depending on your travel to/from home habits.</p></li>
<li><p>Personal - The $3320 minus the $1040 for the laptop leaves $2280. Are you going to spend $2280 a year? That’s about $230 a month for 10 months. If you’re already getting food (in the $7500 for room/board) this seems like you could reduce it.</p></li>
<li><p>Room/Board - The $7500 seems a little low to me. But this is UF’s number. Once you move out of the dorms, this number may go up or down depending on number of roommates and food expenses. Get 5 other roommates and a 3 year supply of Raman noodles and you can greatly reduce this.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Update…</p>
<p>My numbers were based on last year’s estimate.</p>
<p>It looks like UF has presented some different figures. Here’s the link…</p>
<p>[Cost</a> of Attendance](<a href=“http://www.sfa.ufl.edu/apply/coa.html]Cost”>Cost of Attendance | UF Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships)</p>